When can I put in the frogs?

[sandyleew]

I just finished my first vivarium with GS and silicone. How long do I have to wait before transferring my frogs to it?

Thanks!

[beckdg]

i would personally say a couple weeks is best. longer is better.

if you think the plants are rooted well enough and everything's cured without an odor... and you're in a pickle... go for it... but be careful.

[JimO]

If you can smell any solvent odor from the GS, then it is still curing. If there are areas with thick layers of GS, you can puncture it several times with a nail or small screwdriver to help the interior cure faster. If liquid GS oozes out of any of the holes, that will indicate that uncured and unexpanded GS is trapped inside the outer shell.

[sandyleew]

Thanks! I will wait then. I don't want to pierce the GS because if it oozed out I would them have to cover it again.

[Grimm]

If you are able, I would try to leave the tank empty for a month or so. Then if you notice anything that needs to be fixed, changed, tweeked or replaced you wont have to move any inhabitants. It a lot easier working on a tank without worrying about your frogs escaping. Trust me, I'm in the middle of trying to build a new glass top for mine, and its a huge pain!

[JimO]

With my last build using GS, I set it up and put water in, letting the water feature run. It took a couple of weeks before I couldn't detect any odor. Then I drained and replaced the water, planted it and put the frogs in.